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Swiss bank UBS reports huge loss for 2007 after subprime debacle
"Swiss banking giant UBS said on Thursday it had suffered a net loss of 4.4 billion Swiss francs (4.0 billion dollars, 2.7 billion euros) in 2007 after losing billions in the US mortgage crisis.

The loss -- the bank's first-ever full-year loss -- compared to a profit of 12.3 billion Swiss francs in 2006 and was in line with forecasts." -source


Thai elephant at Sydney zoo pregnant
"Sydney's Taronga Zoo has officially announced the pregnancy of one its Asian elephants. The elephant is expected to give birth in June 2009.

The eight-year-old elephant, named Thong Dee, is one of four female elephants brought to Taronga Zoo from Thailand in 2005.

News of the pregnancy was leaked to the media, when Lee Rhiannon, an MP from the Greens Party, expressed concern the zoo had put the animal at risk by allowing her to get pregnant before reaching maturity.

Taronga Zoo denies the elephant is too young to reproduce, saying experts examined the female Asian elephants at the zoo last year and all were found to be healthy and fertile." - source


Saudi Arabia: Halt Woman’s Execution for ‘Witchcraft’
"(New York, February 14, 2008) – King Abdullah should halt the execution of Fawza Falih and void her conviction for “witchcraft,” Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the Saudi king.

"The religious police who arrested and interrogated Fawza Falih and the judges who tried her in the northern town of Quraiyat never gave her the opportunity to prove her innocence against absurd charges that have no basis in law.

“The fact that Saudi judges still conduct trials for unprovable crimes like ‘witchcraft’ underscores their inability to carry out objective criminal investigations,” said Joe Stork, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Fawza Falih’s case is an example of how the authorities failed to comply even with existing safeguards in the Saudi justice system.” -source


Zimbabwe's inflation surges to 66,000 per cent
"HARARE (AFP) — Zimbabwe's inflation rate, already the highest in the world, has soared to a new high of 66,212.3 percent, according to official figures obtained by AFP on Thursday.

""This means that prices as measured by the all items CPI, increased by an average 66,212.3 percent between December 2006 and December 2007." -source


Shanghaiese Symbol for LOST:

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